Copyright 2018 Mitul Kotecha

Several central bank decisions are on tap this week including Japan (BoJ), Switzerland (SNB), Norway (Norges Bank), Brazil (BCB) and Thailand (BoT). Among these only the Norges Bank looks likely to hike rates.

US data is largely second tier this week, with August housing data due for release. After a run of weak readings a bounce back in starts and existing home sales is expected. RBA minutes in Australia and NZ Q2 macro data are also in focus.

Political events will garner most attention, with the delayed announcement on China tariffs ($200bn) possible as early as today after being delayed due to the consideration of revisions raised via public comment. Another twist in the saga is that China is considering declining the US offer of trade talks given the recent Trump threat of fresh tariffs (WSJ).

Other political events include Japan’s LDP election and US trade negotiations (assuming China participates) at the end of the week. A few Brexit events this week include the General Affairs Council and Informal EU Summit.

After a very long absence and much to the neglect to Econometer.org I am pleased to write a new post and apologise to those that subscribed to my blog, for the very long delay since my last post. There is so much to say about the market turmoil at present, it is almost hard not to write something.

For those of you with eyes only on the continued strength in US stocks, which have hit record high after record high in recent weeks, it may be shocking news to your ears that the rest of the world, especially the emerging markets (EM) world, is in decidedly worse shape.

Compounding the impact of Federal Reserve rate hikes and strengthening US dollar, EM assets took another blow as President Trump’s long threatened tariffs on China began to be implemented. Investors in countries with major external vulnerabilities in the form of large USD debts and current account deficits took fright and panic ensued.

Argentina and Turkey have been at the forefront of pressure due the factors above and also to policy inaction though Argentina has at least bit the bullet. Even in Asia, it is no coincidence that markets in current account deficit countries in the region, namely India, Indonesia, underperformed especially FX. Even China’s currency, the renminbi, went through a rapid period of weakness, before showing some relative stability over recent weeks though I suspect the weakness was largely engineered.

What next? The plethora of factors impacting market sentiment will not just go away. The Fed is set to keep on hiking, with several more rate increases likely over the next year or so. Meanwhile the ECB is on track to ending its quantitative easing program by year end; the ECB meeting this Thursday will likely spell out more detail on its plans. The other major central bank that has not yet revealed plans to step back from its easing policy is the Bank of Japan, but even the BoJ has been reducing its bond buying over past months.

The trade war is also set to escalate further. Following the $50bn of tariffs already imposed on China $200 billion more could go into effect “very soon” according to Mr Trump. Worryingly he also added that tariffs on a further $267bn of Chinese goods could are “ready to go on short notice”, effectively encompassing all of China’s imports to the US. China has so far responded in kind. Meanwhile though a deal has been agreed between the US and Mexico, a deal encompassing Canada in the form a new NAFTA remains elusive.

Idiosyncratic issues in Argentina and Turkey remain a threat to other emerging markets, not because of economic or banking sector risks, but due increased contagion as investors shaken from losses in a particular country, pull capital out of other EM assets. The weakness in many emerging market currencies, local currency bonds and equities, has however, exposed value. Whether investors want to catch a falling knife, only to lose their fingers is another question. which I will explore in my next post.

USD/JPY will continue to struggle to break higher in the short term, with the currency pair restrained by capped US yields. Indeed US Treasury yields have slipped over recent days. The range bound trading pattern for USD/JPY has resulted in a declining trend in both implied and realized volatility. The drop in volatility has been particularly sharp, with 1 month volatility at an extreme level according to our z-score analysis.

The implication is that it is cheap to USD/JPY volatility although it may need a trigger from a further increase in US yields and / or major improvement in risk appetite to spur an increase in volatility. Comments by the Bank of Japan’s Iwata yesterday that its not necessarily good if the JPY keeps depreciating is not conducive for higher volatility in the currency pair but likely further stimulus from the BoJ alongside wider yield differentials with the US, will mean that downward JPY pressure will resume soon at a more rapid pace in the months ahead.

Like this:

While I continue to forecast JPY weakness over the coming months the JPY is currently being buffeted by various forces. Elevated risk aversion has limited the downside for JPY as the currency has once again found a safe haven bid although it has weakened as risk appetite improved slightly overnight.

Going forward, I expect US Treasury yields to move sharply higher as the US economy gains momentum and loses the shackles of bad weather, pressurising USD/JPY higher. Additionally likely further easing by the BoJ in April / May will contribute to downward pressure on the JPY.

Separately Japan has shifted from possessing a relatively strong broad basic balance surplus (current account + direct investment + portfolio flows) to a deficit, a factor that will undermine the JPY over the coming months.

Like this:

USD/JPY is being buffeted by the conflicting forces of relatively elevated risk aversion and higher US yields, leaving the currency pair in difficult position to sustain gains. Today’s BoJ outcome has the potential to give some direction but its unlikely that the central bank will deliver any surprises after boosting its funding for lending scheme at the last meeting. Nonetheless, additional easing is likely to take place around as early as April. The emergence of US Treasury buyers as 10 year yields approach 2.8% suggests that US yields may be capped for now and it may take the emergence of more positive / less weather impacted data to push yields higher. Consequently USD/JPY will struggle to make much headway over the short term, with resistance seen around 103.77.

Like this:

As the reverberations from China’s poor trade data, weaker loan growth and money supply, as well as continued tensions in the Ukraine ahead of a referendum next Sunday, spread through the market, risk aversion continues to edge higher according to our risk barometer.

Lingering questions over the weather impact on the US economy are also capping risk appetite even after the better than expected US jobs report at the end of last week. Although there is no sign of any panic selling of risk assets at present the tone is decidedly cautious.

Consequently safe haven assets remain in demand, with for example gold prices holding up well and US Treasury yields being capped. Additionally industrial commodity prices have taken a hit, with iron ore prices under major pressure.

There is little on the agenda today that will give a clearer picture for markets, with the Bank of Japan policy meeting and UK industrial production data, the key events for the day. As a result, caution is likely to prevail.

Like this:

There are plenty of events to chew on over coming days including central bank decisions in Japan tomorrow and New Zealand on Wednesday. The Bank of Japan is unlikely to ease policy further so soon after its actions to boost loan growth while in contrast the RBNZ is set to begin its hiking cycle. On the data front US releases will still be weather impacted to some extent although February retail sales is likely to post a small gain. Moreover, Michigan confidence is set to rise, boosted by higher equity prices.

In Europe, attention will focus on industrial production releases in January, with French and Spanish IP data due to be released today. Overall production is likely to have expanded at a healthy clip of 0.4% MoM in the Eurozone as indicated by survey data. Finally, Australian jobs data is set to show some improvement on Thursday as the pace of deterioration in job market conditions slows.

In Asia the reverberations from the weaker Chinese data will likely impact sentiment across the region. Exports dropped by whopping 18.1% in February while imports rose more strongly than expected at 10.1% yielding a trade deficit of USD 22.99 billion. Central bank decisions in Korea and Thailand are on tap this week. Thailand is a close call, with risks of another policy rate cut but we expect the BoT to stay on hold. Currencies in Asia strengthened last week led by the IDR and INR. Gains this week will be morel limited, especially against the background of higher US yields.

Forex sites/blogs

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 608 other followers

Disclaimer

The information published within this blog has been prepared on the basis of publicly available information and other sources believed to be reliable. Whilst all reasonable care is taken to ensure that the facts stated are accurate, the author is not in any way responsible for the accuracy of its contents. The comments are intended to provide clients with information and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities, currencies or any other financial product. The author makes no recommendations as to the merits of any financial product referred to in this blog and the information contained does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation and needs. Therefore you should consider whether these products are appropriate in view of your objectives, financial situation and needs as well as considering the risks associated in dealing with those products. The views expressed here are purely personal and do not represent the views or opinions of TD Securities